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Fireplaces and Fireplace Accessories - A Buyer's Guide
Wed 05 Nov 2008 - 13:03
Fireplaces and Fireplace Accessories - A Buyer's Guide
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=David_Graham_Peter_Ball]David Graham Peter Ball
Fireplaces are the centre piece of any living room so you should research and proceed with caution before purchasing a fireplace or any fireplace accessories. Below I have made some points to consider before purchasing a fireplace or any accessories:
General Fireplace Information
Fireplaces will be one of the most expensive furniture sets for your living room, so try to make the tones relatively neutral to save on big clashes with the general decor.
Fireplaces are often the centre piece or focus point of the living room, drawing more attention than most areas. Fireplaces usually consist of a fire surround, back panel and a hearth. Fire guards are a useful and practical addition (more on fire guards below) and they can also be styled with ornamental extras (see below).
Be mindful of the size of the fire place area and that it is in proportion to the rest of the room.
If you have a family with young children there are safety aspects to bear in mind as well as the practicalities on how it should be styled to suit the environment it's in.
Fire Surrounds
Fire Surrounds are usually rectangular shaped furniture that surrounds your fire against the wall. Commonly they are made from either MDF, solid wood, plaster, marble or brick.
Grand and bold plaster designs tend to be thick and would only suit the larger living room; this may also be the case with marble. Although both are beautiful in appearance, they may not be practical for families with young children, as they can mark, scratch or chip easily. They are also very heavy and the type of flooring you have may be affected by this.
Wooden surrounds tend to be the more practical of the materials; they can quite easily suit most sized living rooms, yet go for lighter wood colours in smaller rooms and dark wood or dark oak tones for larger rooms. Most tones will suit the rest of the fireplace such as the back panels and hearths.
For contemporary styled rooms it is recommended that the style be more simplistic, such as plain, straight edges with less curves or patterns, with the opposite recommended for more traditional settings.
Fires
The type or style of fire comes down to personal choice and what fits in with the rest of your decor. Fires can be gas or electric and be real or just an effect. Effect fires usually come in coal, wood or just flame.
Check with the manufacturer or supplier as to the heat output and they should be able to advise what's best for the size of your living room. Getting the right amount of heat is important and economically beneficial.
Effect fires are recommended as practical and safe if you have young children unless a stable fire guard surrounds the fire.
If it's a gas fire this must be fitted by a corgi registered gas fitter.
Fittings are usually separate to the cost of the fire and it is a common mistake to think this may be free of charge.
Fire Guards
Fire Guards are very useful in terms of safety if you have young children.
They can also be an attractive addition to the fireplace as a whole, so go with decorative as well as practical.
They should be treated in a fire proof coating and are generally made of aluminium, iron or wrought iron.
The manufacturer or supplier should provide information on what the fire guard has been treated with.
Make sure the fire guard is secure to avoid them falling, this can be dangerous and also damage any ornaments or hearths that may be close by.
Small, soft pads can be attached to the bottom of the stands to avoid any hearth or flooring being scratched.
Fireplace Back Panels and Hearths
Back panels lie against the wall in between the fire surround and surrounding the actual fire.
Hearths lie on the floor in front of the fire and across, generally used to accommodate ornaments.
Both tend to be matching and made of either tile, wood or more common, marble.
The back panel and hearth are usually purchased together, they rarely purchased separately.
Marble can be man-manufactured or natural, natural is more expensive and both are as susceptible to chipping or scratching.
As they are easily chipped, marble hearths are not recommended for families with young children. The edges can also be quite blunt so if little ones fall over there is a risk of injury.
Marble or tile is also very heavy, so be mindful if placing them on wood or laminate flooring.
Natural marble can appear to have unusual looking patterns that may not be consistent with the rest of the design. These patterns are part of the natural tone and cannot be helped by the manufacturer.
So, as you can see there is a lot to consider before purchasing a fireplace or any fireplace accessories. There are also extras you can purchase such as coal hods and buckets, fireplace tool sets, fenders and log & coal buckets which are all usually made from brass, iron, steel or aluminium. Fireplace accessories can be seen as both modern and traditional so they will enhance any type of living room.
The last point I need to make is to make sure you keep your fireplace style and design consistent with the rest of the décor in your home, if you don't the fireplace will be the centre piece of your living room for all the wrong reasons.
Article is authored by David Ball from [http://homegardenaccessories.co.uk]Home Garden Accessories. For more information visit our [http://homegardenaccessories.co.uk/fireplaceaccessories/]Fireplace Accessories web page.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Graham_Peter_Ball http://EzineArticles.com/?Fireplaces-and-Fireplace-Accessories---A-Buyers-Guide&id=1646944
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